Best corporate publication - private sector organisations 2016

With a history dating back more than 250 years, Brewin Dolphin is one of the UK’s oldest private client investment managers. It has advised some clients and their families for generations, and adheres to the old-fashioned mantra Investing in the relationship, which it believes sets it apart from many peers.

Agency Wardour Communications was commissioned to produce a biannual publication for Brewin Dolphin’s high net worth clients that would help to distinguish the business from its competitors. Perspective is designed to appeal to such an audience, and their interests.

The publication draws on the information and advice that Brewin Dolphin’s investment managers provide to their clients, under the umbrella Brewin Lens banner, but also includes a selection of lifestyle features. Many of these features are related to Brewin Dolphin’s sponsored events and charitable work, so in the spring of 2016, for example, it covered the Chelsea Flower Show, where for the previous five years the company had sponsored a show garden.

But Brewin Dolphin’s own research indicated that articles on gardening and motoring would also be of interest to its clients, alongside case studies on entrepreneurship. This insight resulted in articles on the Goodwood Revival and the re-emergence of Britain’s luxury car industry, and an interview with David Pollock, founder of Chess Group, who has won several entrepreneurial awards. The publication seeks to bring even the driest financial features to life, with original photography, commissioned illustrations and other imagery.

For example, a series of bespoke illustrations were used to explain how the falling oil price would affect readers while another series explained pension arrangements around the world. Numbered tip lists also provided simple aide memoires for readers following the Budget. The biannual publication is supplemented with a series of monthly articles for Brewin Dolphin’s website, focusing on investment and personal finance.

Perspective has proved popular with clients. A readership survey in 2015 found that 91 per cent rated the articles as good or excellent, while 11 per cent have been inspired to set up a meeting with Brewin Dolphin as a result of seeing the publication. And almost half – 48 per cent – have recommended Brewin Dolphin after reading Perspective.

The judges found Perspective to be a ‘quality publication that draws the clients in, without overtly selling to them’. ‘I want to read these articles,’ said one.